


All My Idle Hours

by imaginarypasta



Series: DP Side Hoes Week 2020 [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: and then like relocating them, first aid!!, side hoes week, um warning for dislocated shoulders ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23209609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginarypasta/pseuds/imaginarypasta
Summary: Valerie doesn't have much free time, but she does make pretty good use of it.DP Side Hoes Week Day 4 (Dani/Hobbies) (just hobbies)(Title changed from "Free Time")
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Valerie Gray
Series: DP Side Hoes Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668535
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	All My Idle Hours

Valerie didn’t have much in the way of hobbies. Most of her time was spent at school, at work, or fighting ghosts. In what little free time she had, she liked to try to get some sleep in there too. She had very little time for friends, and even fewer of those than she had time, so it was never really an issue.

Fenton was one of the few exceptions. He always tried to make time for her when she couldn’t do the same; he’d visit her at work (although she usually got in trouble for giving him free burgers since that kid ate a _lot_ ), give her homework when she missed school (even if they usually ended up burned somehow), and always try to partner up for group assignments (though he was a pretty bad student).

His friends didn’t really extend the same kindness. Foley, she was pretty sure, used to have a crush on her, but that seemed to have stopped when her dad lost his job. Valerie wasn’t sure if the two were correlated -- he didn’t seem _that_ shallow -- but she assumed the worst and thus didn’t give him the time of day. Manson had always been protective of Fenton, so she was pretty sure the girl was just jealous he was spending time with Valerie instead. She didn’t give their hatred of her a second thought. It had been a long time since she cared what people thought about her.

She and Fenton were in the library now. He was chatting away about a project they’d been assigned; she was busy thinking about how this was the most enthusiastic she’d ever seen him for school. Back when they first met, during that fateful Home Economics project, he’d seemed like he didn’t give a single thought to academics, and everything about him she’d learned after the fact only confirmed that. Of course, he was incredibly smart, surprisingly smart. And he was a whiz at math; if she had any free time, she’d ask him to tutor her.

“Valerie?” he said loudly, and she snapped out of her daze. “Are you paying attention to anything I’m saying?”

“Yeah, sorry. Something about factorials.”

“We’re working on a history project,” he said. “Do you want to take a break?”

Valerie did not have the time or need to take breaks. “Yes,” she said. He grinned and closed the textbook that sat in front of him. 

“Great.” He leaned back in the chair until the front legs were in the air and his shoes rested on the table before them. “What are your plans this weekend?”

Her plans were to work all day Saturday, fight ghosts on Sunday, and use whatever time she had left to study. “Probably just watch TV,” she said.

He nodded. “My parents want to take me and my sister ghost hunting. They insist it’s fun family bonding. I don’t see why we can’t just play board games like a regular family.”

“Oh yeah, I always forget your parents are…” She struggled to find the words. “Like, your parents.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “They sure are.”

“I dunno, that sounds like fun to me.”

“What? Sitting on the roof for hours in complete silence waiting for a ghost to appear and then shooting at it for maybe thirty seconds before it disappears?”

“Yes, that.” She laughed. “But for real.” He gave her a funny look and she wrinkled her lip in response. “What?”

“What do you do in your free time?” The way he asked it was strange, calculated, like he already knew the answer. She guessed he did, minus the ghost hunting part. “That _that_ sounds like fun to you?” he tacked on.

“Honestly, just homework and work.”

“Right…” He tilted his head back and forth for a moment before wincing in pain.

“Whoa, something wrong?”

“Nah,” he said.

“You just, like, yelped in pain.”

“Yes. I did,” he said cooly, although it was a bit of an exaggeration. “I just fell down the stairs yesterday and hurt my shoulder.” There was something dishonest in what he was saying, but she couldn’t place it.

“Do you want me to check it out?

“I’m okay.”

“Danny…” His eyes became sharp and focused as soon as she said his name.

“What?” His voice was different now, almost solemn, though she couldn’t really imagine Danny being so serious.

“Let me check it out.”

“I don’t…” She stood and offered him a hand. He didn’t take it, but he did stand and follow her.

She led him to the boys’ bathroom, where he almost yelled in surprise. “You can’t be in here, Valerie.”

“Fine,” she said and pulled him into a stall. They were cramped in there, and he had to bend down over the toilet so she could actually see his shoulder standing up like this. They were so close. She could feel his slow, warm breathing, uneven, like he was trying to hold it in.

“Fenton, chill out.” She waited until his breathing became normal. “Now take off your shirt.”

“Valerie!”

“ _Shh_ ,” she hissed.

“Oh my God,” he whispered, but took off his long sleeve shirt. It was a bit of a struggle for him to get it around one shoulder, and Valerie threw it over her shoulder. When she could see it, the area was clearly swollen and covered in purple bruises.

“You’re lucky it’s your left arm. You said this happened last night?” He nodded. “I think this might be dislocated. Shit, what did you _do_?”

He didn’t answer and she gently rested her hand on his shoulder. Both pulled away at once.

“Sorry, you surprised me.”

“You’re _freezing_.” Valerie thought for a moment. “Oh, I’m pretty sure that’s bad, actually. Maybe we should call an ambulance.”

“No!” he exclaimed and she shushed him again. “Sorry. I just… I don’t like hospitals and I run cold, so it’s fine.” He pressed his right hand to her forearm and, sure enough, it was icy cold. “See?”

“I still think you should get it checked out.” She frowned. “But I’ll put it back into place if you want me to.”

“Um,” he said. “Yeah, all right.” 

“Sorry, but you’re gonna have to sit on the toilet seat, unless you want to do this in the library.” He shook his head and sat down. 

She had to press her back against the wall of the stall to get a good angle, and just pressed it back into place without any warning. He winced, but otherwise didn’t make a sound. It was almost like he was used to hiding massive pains, and her heart wept for him.

“That should at least help.” He began to rub the area around where she’d just fixed, but she swatted his hand away. “Don’t do that. You might want to wear a sling, or at least take some pain medication.”

“Sorry.” He tapped his fingers on his thigh. “Um, can I have my shirt back please?”

“Oh, shit, yeah.” She handed him his shirt and pointed her eyes to the ground while he put it back on. 

“Valerie, I…” he began, before his voice faltered. “Um, thanks for this.”

“Yeah, no problem. Maybe be more careful with whatever you were doing next time.”

“Falling down the stairs,” he reminded her. Despite her better judgements, she laughed. He followed suit. “Anyway, where’d you learn how to do this?”

She thought for a moment. “Remember how you asked about my hobbies?” He nodded. “Well, I guess I’m kinda into first aid.” He gave her a funny, lopsided grin and she couldn't help but smile back.


End file.
